Secondary Remote School hosts virtual book club
April 9, 2021
GUELPH, Ontario – Earlier this year, the Secondary Remote School started and ran a successful White Pine book club.
This book club was held virtually through Google Meets and had 10 meetings between January 7 and April 8.
The White Pine program is part of the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading Program and keeps young adults in mind as it suggests book titles.
The three initiators of this book club were teacher-librarians Cheryl Kanters, Alanna King and Lisa Unger. Throughout the course of the book club, they met each Thursday for one hour sessions with over 100 staff and students from across the Upper Grand District School Board.
As part of the book club, students and staff were offered book prizes, makerspace activities and a special guest adult reader from UGDSB staff each meeting.
Authors who became directly involved in the book club include:
- Tanaz Bhathena – author of Hunted by the Sky
- Zalika Reid-Benta – author of Frying Plantain
- Anita Daher – author of You Don’t Have to Die in the End
- Anna Priemaza – author of Fan the Fame
These authors offered video messages, hand-signed swag, and even time for podcasting.
The group was also joined by Professor Marguerite Campbell to talk about being Caribbean-Canadian and the push-pull tension of being a Black person in Canada.
Student feedback about the book club was very positive.
Some of the titles discussed during the book club
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